


Glass

by kiss_me_cassie



Category: Castle, The West Wing
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-17
Updated: 2015-06-17
Packaged: 2018-04-04 21:49:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4154220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiss_me_cassie/pseuds/kiss_me_cassie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The destruction in her apartment hadn't ended with the glass, but still... she'd only broken a glass. Or so she tried to tell herself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Glass

**Author's Note:**

> I've been on a fic kick lately. Mostly reading, some writing. And decided to allow some older, abandoned, never-got-around-to-posting-fics to see the light of day. 
> 
> Spoilers for Kill Shot (Castle) and Noel & S6 (TWW). This was written before we ever saw Dr. Worf, so... I get to make my own psychologist up, right? ;)

Beckett walked into the waiting area of Dr. Burke's office and sat down in one of the hard chairs farthest away from the only other occupant of the room, a middle-aged man with wildly crazy hair. He was alternately scowling at CNN, which was playing on the wall-mounted television, and mumbling at his phone. "Dammit, Toby. Where the hell are you?" 

He was mumbling, she noted, at the phone itself and not at someone on the other end. Interesting. She wondered what his story was, then quickly back-tracked and stopped wondering. She had enough problems of her own. First and foremost, a complete lack of coffee at such an early hour. 

She would kill for a cup of coffee right now, she thought, eyeing the steaming cup sitting on the table next to the man. Where was Castle and his seemingly never-ending stream of coffee when she really needed him? Back at the precinct, with Esposito and Ryan, exactly where she wished she could be right now. Instead, she sat here waiting for a session with Dr. Burke, an expert in the field of PTSD, to discuss all of her latest issues. 

She couldn't resist another longing look at the coffee. Unfortunately, the man must have taken that as an invitation to talk, because he stopped scowling at his blackberry long enough to ask, "First time here?" 

Great. She gave him a look, the kind that usually - though not always - managed to shut Castle up. "Uh, no."

The look didn't seem to work on him, either. She'd have to work on it, because the look seemed to have an annoying non-effect on anyone who wasn't an actual suspect.

He eyed the bandage on her wrist curiously. "What happened?" he asked.

"I broke a glass," she said simply, hoping that would be enough. It wasn't.

"Mine was a window," the man offered, nodding knowingly. 

"Just a glass," she repeated firmly. Granted, the destruction in her apartment hadn't ended with the glass, but still... she'd only broken a glass. Or so she tried to tell herself.

"Uh-huh." He took a sip from the coffee cup. "That's what I tried to tell everyone. But Donna saw through it."

Beckett sighed. Apparently there was no getting around a full conversation with this guy. She figured she might as well make it all about him so she didn't have to delve into all of her particular issues.

"Girlfriend?" she asked. It usually was. Either that or a wife.

"Assistant... ah, former assistant. Girlfriend," he quickly corrected. Then he grinned and added, "Fiancee now, actually." Beckett couldn't help noticing that he really was kind of cute, in an unusual way sort of way, especially when he smiled that way.

"It took you four tries to get that right?" a pretty blonde asked from the doorway leading from Dr. Burke's office. She was trying to appear stern, but there was a twinkle in her eyes, so Beckett surmised that this was the aforementioned Donna.

The man confirmed it when he jumped guiltily. "Donna! Geez, we need to get you a bell or something."

"Because that's worked out so well all the other times you've suggested it," she commented dryly before turning to smile at Beckett. "Was he giving you a hard time?"

"Well..." She started to answer, but the man plowed on as if the question had been asked of him.

"I was not giving her a hard time! Besides," the man continued, "I wouldn't be bothering her at all if Toby bothered to respond to any of my phone calls, emails or texts. 20 minutes, Donna! It's been 20 minutes since -"

"Have you considered that Toby may actually be working with some of the protesters regarding a resolution to the Occupation and that's why he's not answering your 500 demanding texts and calls right now?"

"No," he scoffed. "I have in no way considered that. He's doing it to drive me crazy." He glanced at Dr. Burke's office door, then ran his hand haphazardly through his hair. "Crazier. Whatever."

"He's not," Donna said patiently. "You manage to do that just fine on your own."

"I'm sorry," Beckett interjected, glancing between the two and settling her gaze on the man. "I thought you were Dr. Burke's patient?"

"Josh chose to stick with his current therapist, while I decided I'd rather see Dr. Burke."

Beckett's brow furrowed and she found herself blurting out, "So you both have PTSD?" before she'd had a moment to consider how wildly inappropriate the question was. Castle really was rubbing off on her.

"Uh, yeah. But not, you know, from the same thing." Josh turned to Donna and grumbled, "I tried to get you to go to Stanley but you wouldn't hear of it."

"Josh, we've been over this. Stanley already has to deal with you being, well, _you_. If he had to deal with you and your worry about me as well as _me_ , Stanley would need a Stanley. Dr. Burke is an expert on PTSD and he came highly recommended."

"Yeah, but wouldn't you rather you saw someone you know?"

"I'd rather I saw someone who has my best interests at heart."

They were well into their debate about who's therapist was the right therapist when Beckett's cell rang. A quick glance indicated it was Castle. She hastily hit accept. "Oh, thank God. Please tell me someone died." The pair instantly fell silent. She covered the mouthpiece of the phone and smiled wanly at them. "It's ok - I’m a cop," she explained, moving to the other side of the room. 

Castle's call wasn't about anything at all important - he wanted advice for his newest novel about the longevity of body freshness and she referred him to Lanie - but it was just long enough for Josh and Donna to gather their coats in preparation for leaving. 

Josh had managed to connect with the mysterious Toby and was growling into his cell phone, completely ignoring her and Donna as he exited the office. Donna, on the other hand, took a moment to look at Kate. "Honestly, ignore Josh; he's just overprotective And a bit... focused," she added. "Dr. Burke is an excellent doctor. He's helped me a lot." She glanced at Beckett's bandaged arm. "He'll help you, too."

Beckett looked at her, assessing. Years of dealing with lying and misdirecting suspects had taught her how to spot the honest people amongst them. She nodded. "Ok. Thanks."


End file.
